Paper and paper and paper. How I love paper.

Under the suggestions of some friends, Vin and I decided to go to the stationary stores on 18th street in New York. (Well, actually I decided to go and Vin tagged along. ) I had originally taken this past Tuesday off because of a doctor's appointment and since the appointment was early enough, I decided that that day was a good day to go in the city. Well, everyone on the East Coast will know it wasn't a good day to go in the city. It was absolutely a sweltering hot day. Not only was it sticky, humid, and hot, I was feeling tired and run down but we had to get the stationary, I didn't want to wait too long to finish up the invites.

So, we took the PATH in and walked 4 blocks in the suffering heat. We entered one art supply store but they didn't have much paper selection. I was afraid that all the stores were going to look like this and I would be walking forever in this heat and find nothing at all. Yet, God smiled on us because the second store was a dream come true. A dream come true for a paperphile such as me. I love beautiful papers and cards and stuff like that. So, when I stepped into this huge store where they had every selection of cards and envelopes, I was truly energized. Vin can testify that I was tired and moody when I came into that store but when I left I was like a little school girl squealing at all the paper. If I had known this place existed earlier, it would make the invitation process a lot easier. Yet, now I know where to go when I need to make future invitations or greeting cards. I just loved this place.

We are creating our invitations. My dad is proudly helping me with creating, designing, and assembling the invitations. You can't believe the effort my dad is making but I am proud to say that the invitation is all ours and that my dad created these cards. If I had gone into this store earlier, my dad wouldn't have to do so much work. Yet, then again our invitations would probably be more expensive if we had bought our materials here. Despite that, I know that when I look back on my wedding I will have the special memory of how my dad played a great part in making my wedding special. Thank you, Dad, and I love you always.

what really happened at pre-cana

well, to start, the guy giving the talk had to be the greatest guy, ever. i say this because all of his little anecdotes started, 'this is the greatest question, ever', 'this is the greatest answer, ever', 'this is the greatest answer to the greatest question that was asked that dealt with the greatest response to the greatest inquiry that the greatest man posed to the greatest woman, ever'. so, because soooo many great things happened to him, by default, he has to be the greatest man, ever.

*smack*smack*smack*


just to clear up a point or two from cheryl, the 'angry couple' in front of us did appear to have some problems; though the whole hit three times thing i think cheryl misunderstood. we were doing a rating exercise where we would have to raise a number of fingers if we agreed with what was being said. when asked 'my partner hits me when we get into an argument', the woman raised three fingers. i couldn't tell if she was serious or not, the guy did look puzzled by that.

i notice cheryl didn't mention the 'jerry mcguire' clip we watched. i don't know why he showed it so i won't mention it either.

she also didn't mention the free lunch. we had a choice of three sandwiches, ham & cheese, turkey & cheese, or tuna fish. cherly took the tuna, me the ham & cheese. to our surprise, there were not only sandwiches in the boxes, but also potato chips, a mint, chocolate chip cookies, and a hershey's kiss.

and the joke the priest said during his sermon he got from maxim, fhm, stuff, or some other men's magazine.

so there you have it, the unbiased, true facts of the case.

How to have a good Marriage 101

Yesterday we went for our Pre-Cana class, a pre-marital class for us Catholics. The room was filled with about 150 other happy and engaged couples (and there were other not so happy couples there too). It was only 5 hours long and Vin was able to grin and bear it for the most part. The class was led by a marital and family therapist, not a priest. Thank God. He was pretty entertaining and most informative.

Most of the time, he talked about how to communicate and how to resolve problems. Much of the information I am familiar with because I was trained as a counselor. (Yet, because I know doesn't mean I practice what I preach. I try to be mindful of this all the time). We had a workbook but we really didn't spend too much time on it. We were asked to spend time on it at home. Vin promised that we would go through some of the exercises and I am holding him to his promise. See Vin is not so big on this stuff. I love this stuff. I love to gain insight into our relationship and what makes us tick. It is the psychologist in me.

Fortunately for Vin, there were only a few times we interacted with other couples. There was one couple in front of us that we felt had anger issues. The woman throw the workbook down forcibly at one point and kept drumming her pen in an angry way. At one point of the class, we were asked about if we handled conflict by hitting one another and she had gestured to her fiance that she had been hit by him three times. This was a couple who needed tutoring one-on-one on pre-marital issues. This was a couple who probably shouldn't get married.

Well, after a quick mass (about 30 minutes long) we got our certificate stating that we are ready to get married. Honestly, I am not sure if this class with the way that it is structured can really prepare people for marriage or prevent divorce. I guess it is convenient for people to attend one day class and I know that there are many people like Vin who think it is a needless formality. Yet, if the Catholic Church really want to prevent divorce, I think they need to put more time and effort into these classes. People who are committed to each other in marriage should be committed enough to attend classes to prepare for marriage. I know that may not be the popular line of thinking but that is what I think.

The invites

I know that it has been about two weeks since the last blog. It is not like we had a slow couple of weeks. Actually, things are starting to pick up again. I am now working on the invites. We are making our own invites so I am looking for the right paper. The invites aren't too fancy but they will be unique. ( I hope so anyway.)

I have been on many websites trying to find the right wording for the invites. Vin and i are not into anything too mushy, too poetic, or too religious ( which you can find many samples of all of those types). I want something short and sweet and not too formal. I think we found that.

My father is taking the ball on the invites. He is creating them and assemblying them. He is even addressing them. I am glad that he is taking an active role on the invites. I am glad that I don't have to worry about that.

Soon enough, we have to confirm the menu and the flowers and such. I am realizing that there is not enough weekends to do everything. I am hoping to take some vacation days but I am worried that I won't have enough time for the week of the wedding. I might have to play sick to make sure things get done. Shhh. Don't tell my boss.

The move into our new home

I decided since I gave you a short blog earlier this week and since we haven't been writing too much lately, I decided to give you readers of this blog another entry. Lucky you.

We really haven't been doing much on the wedding this week due to Vin's move into our apartment. That was an ordeal. Slowly but surely Vin would carry boxes in and out of one apartment and drive a 15 minute drive to the new apartment. Day in. Day out. For about two weeks. Mind you, he did it without much assistance. Basically, it was me who helped out. A couple of friends helped carry stuff to the car and such but for no long extended period of time. Vin is not big on asking for assistance. He said that he rather do it himself.

This past holiday weekend was not much of a relaxing one for the both of us. We had to load up two cars and make several trips to finish off the move. We were both tuckered out from the move. We not only have to move boxes up and down stairs but also we also had to clean out the room before we left. We were both exhausted from that weekend. I need another holiday to recover.

Vin and I were both surprised at how much stuff he held in one room. (Stuff that he has to weed out to make room for my stuff). There is also stuff that belongs to Vin stored in my parents' basement that we have to move into the apartment. I think we will give this weekend a rest and not move that stuff until later in the month. This time I am going to ask my brother to help out.

We also still have to move my stuff in November when I officially move in. Boy, and to think that we want to buy a house in a year or two after we are married. Well, when we move to the new house, we will hire movers. Hopefully by then, Vin will get rid of some of his stuff ; )

4 months to go

It is officially 4 months till our wedding. Scary when you think of it. Well, I guess, scary when I come to think of it. So much to still do. Right now I am concentrating on the invites. I need to complete the invites so that we can send it off to the Philippines. In the Philippines, it is hard to get a visa to the States even before 9/11 so the invitation will assist them in coming here. My family over there can present the invitation to the embassy as the reason for them coming to the States.

Other than that, I need to finalize transportation, wedding rings, flowers, shoes, accessories and such. I just can't believe it is coming around the corner.

I rather not think about it. So, this is it. Probably my shortest blog ever. Wow.